Wednesday, June 22, 2011

TOP SECRET TWENTY-ONE by Janet Evanovich

The latest in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, TOP SECRET TWENTY ONE is about a used car dealer who has jumped bail for selling more than just cars out of his lot. Dead bodies are turning up as Plum tries to track him down. And of course the best reason to buy any of these books on audio (instead of in print) is narrator Lorelei King, an actress with a gift for bringing characters to life. She definitely enhances the text. Some might claim the text needs enhancing, as has Evanovich herself with plastic surgery (she looks quite a bit younger on the back jacket of the audiobook!)

Lorelei King to Audiobooks Today: "She's so well written, her personality just leaps off the page. My choices were all to do with conveying this in the voice, and when I first started recording the Plum novels (many moons ago!), I made the decision to neutralize Stephanie's accent. It's been my experience that first person narration can really start to grate if you use any kind of strong regional accent. I give myself free rein the with supporting characters though, and go as Jersey as I like! Recording Janet Evanovich's novels has been so much fun, one of the most enjoyable parts of my career! I know I'm always going to have at LEAST two or three uncontrollable belly laughs, where the tears are rolling down my face and we have to stop recording. The writing is great, the characters are wonderful, the dialogue is easy to play, and the laughs keep coming. I hope she keeps writing them forever!"